Ada Tessibel Peters, "Boys on to France" (1919)
Sons of America, do you not hear
The roaring of Germany's guns?
Get up and be busy; war is near
We must face Kaiser Wilhelm.
Just as our fore-fathers years ago
Against the Red Coats, made their stand
So to France, you must go
And protect the honor of our Native Land.
II.
If God's on our side, we need not fear
For His Cause, has always won
Fight on though the price seems dear
Push forward, 'till the race is run.
Mothers you too, must do your part
In the impending strife
Clasp not the son to your heart
But give him to the Cause of Right.
III.
Show him you're willing to give
All in life you possess
Giving that Freedom might live.
And mothers they'll do the rest.
For their souls will then swell
With that Holy Divine Strength
That only Americans have felt
As from it's Fountain they drink.
IV.
Black Boys, Uncle Sam is calling you too,
Calling you men of African Birth
Will you to America be true?
And in the struggle prove your worth?
Boys, you may think it unfair to fight
That it's hard to have a patriotic zeal
For a country that denies us our rights
That pushes us back though we're free.
V.
But do good for evil we've learned
In the Book of Ever-lasting life
That in Heaven, a home, we might earn
Where Blessed Peace reigns and not strife.
Old Glory, you triumphantly wave
O'er the Land of the Free
Yet from the mobs we're not saved
To whom, for refuge must we flee?
VI.
Is it right hotheaded men should take
The law of the land in their hands?
Can innocence be proved at a burning stake?
No, then why not give us a chance?
But boys of African Blood be true
Ready and willing the Cause to defend
Then may the Red, White and Blue
Forget color and recognize men.
VII.
Dear Flag, we've proved ourselves Masters of Art
Great inventions to the world we've
Yet in the government we take no part
Then why are we to war driven?
If in jim crow cars we must stay
Too illiterate to ride with the whites
Are we to sleep in a soldiers grave
Or, illiterate stand by your side and fight?
VIII.
Columbia, when on the battlefield
Our soldiers, dying whisper, "I thirst"
Let this woman attend to their needs
She's a dark skin, Red Cross Nurse
Give us the chance and we'll show
The skill and bravery of the fairer-sex
How we'll face the enemy's blow
Though we know the stand means death.
IX.
O, God, could a stronger race do more
For American Freedom to gain
Than my people who bore
The curse of slavery's chains
When across the waters you're borne
Boys, to the Land of Some-where
You're defending Our Homes
And "God Bless you," is our prayer.
X.
Some day the war'll be o'er
In triumph Old Glory'll be borne
Back to American shores
Back to Home, Sweet Home
'"Till then boys, we bid you adieu
Yet in the government we take no part
Then why are we to war driven?
Each one of you play well the game
And may God be with you
'Till we all meet again.
Published in the Peters Sisters, War Poems, 1919